what a great discussion and even though my DS5 is a little younger than some others here we saw some pretty major changes in him concerning his old Montessori preschool...he went from being a pretty happy-go-lucky little kid that would spend hours exploring topics of interest to being a very angry, pent up little boy who didn't want to do anything anymore. He wasn't getting his intellectual or sensory needs meet (he has Sensory Processing Disorder) and the loss of both just about did him in. He was miserable, bored, and his self-esteem really seemed to hit rock bottom...he stopped sleeping and began grinding his teeth at night. We removed him from that setting and within a month, we started to see glimpses of our fun-loving, exploring son. Now that he has started a new school for K, we are getting concerned again because the steps he took getting back to his old self during the summer are going backwards - we are starting to see some of the same things come out again....so we are doing some research about homeschooling options for him.
